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Fort Frost Guard
The Fort Frost Guard is a large mercenary group that operate in the Minnesota region, based in Fort Frost. The Guard’s main source of employment comes from offering ‘protection’ to communities against attacks in exchange for tribute. History The origins of the Fort Frost Guard lie with Cain Malenkov, a mercenary who had been operating across the Minnesota region. While the commander of a small band, Malenkov had dreams of something bigger; he wanted to be the leader of his own empire and the strongest power in the region. He also sought the destruction of the Decimators, the powerful raider warband who had become the scourge of the region, although this was as much about ending their threat as it was the elimination of a rival. However, for all his ambition, he also knew that to do such would require access to far greater resources than he had at present. His followers, while capable, were also limited in number. Likewise, they had no solid base of operations, instead moving from place to place. Even though he had done a good job of creating a solid core of loyal followers, Malenkov knew that he needed more in order to succeed. Fate seemingly smiled upon him when Malenkov discovered a journal left behind by one of his ancestors in 2269. Jericho Malenkov had been a high ranking officer at Fort Frost, a National Guard base located in central Minnesota. More importantly, he had been privy to the base’s secrets, most notably, a hidden subterranean facility that had been concealed underneath it. The details that Malenkov discovered planted the seeds of an idea that would take time to come to fruition. At the time, Fort Frost was known as Ghoulsburg, a community and safe haven for Ghouls from across the Minnesota region. From what Malenkov had determined, the Ghouls were unaware of the subterranean portion of the base, which gave him a weapon that he could use. He also knew that the Ghoulsburg community was showing signs of distress due to a growing divide between its more peaceful members and a militant faction. In 2272, Malenkov took advantage of the situation to further his goal of capturing the fort and its hidden armoury. The first step was hiring an agent provocer; in this case it was a Ghoul woman named Sue Tawdry who infiltrated Ghoulsburg and quickly aligned herself with the militant faction. Once there, she deliberately fuelled the flames and created rifts within the community. Soon the Fort’s populace were deeply divided which lead to the militant faction taking radical steps. The next stage was to be in the right place at the right time. With the militant faction having taken control of portions of the fort and the other residents unable to dislodge them, Cain offered the services of his men to help solve the problem. The Ghoulsburg citizens agreed, glad to have a solution and more than willing to stand back and let Malenkov do what he had to. At first, Malenkov seemed true to his word. He and his men entered one of the former hangars, accessing a hidden hatch and disappearing into previously unknown tunnels underneath the base. Those outside nervously waited to see what would happen. After an hour, the sounds of gunfire were heard from within Trenton’s compound as Malenkov’s troops entered it form below and engaged the occupying forces. Overwhelmed, Trenton and his surviving followers fled the compound and were captured. The Ghoulsburg community was filled with a sense of relief that quickly turned to terror as Malenkov’s forces opened fire on them as well. The secret tunnels under the fort not only had access to several key buildings within the compound, but also had contained a hidden armoury. Having up-gunned themselves, Malenkov’s men had used the hidden tunnels to spread out across the fort. Now that they had control over these structures, Malenkov and his men aimed to take the fort for themselves. While they had the advantage of numbers, the Ghoulsburg residents were surrounded and out-gunned; most of them were unarmed and few had much actual combat experience. Attempts to fight back failed and quickly degenerated into chaos as the survivors fled from their savours turned conquerors. By the end of the day, Malenkov’s men had complete control of Ghoulsburg, having hunted down and eliminated anyone who hadn’t fled. For her part in the affair, Tawdry was personally executed by Malenkov to cover his tracks. With their new home secured, Malenkov spent the next two years transforming his small mercenary band into a private army. He openly recruited from whatever sources were available to him; mercenaries, raiders, settlers, drifters and the like, initially focusing on sheer numbers. However, as the army matured, he became more choosy not only about his recruitment, but also with a more refined training process that would weed out those that were not suited to his new army. This process paid off; the guard were able to repel an attack by the Decimators’ Axoid Warband in 2276, driving them off while suffering comparatively light losses. Emboldened by this success, Malenkov began to offer the Fort Frost Guard’s services as mercenaries throughout the region, while also deploying his forces on ‘protection’ missions to local communities. The first large scale deployment of the Fort Frost Guard was during the 2281 Tribal Incursions. The fort Frost Guard were responsible for not only protecting communities in the western Minnesota region from attack, but also followed through into Tribal lands where they were able to score a number of key victories. This campaign effectively ended the Tribal threat, while serving to reinforce the Guard’s role as the only effective military force in the region. Organisation The Fort Frost Guard are organised like a military command. Colonel Cain Malenkov is the guard’s overall commander and wields supreme power through a military chain of command; his subordinates follow his orders and in turn pass them on to their own. Malenkov’s current second is Major Roberta Ovan. In the field, the Guard forces report to the highest ranking field commander. This is usually a lieutenant or a captain, depending on the size of the force and the extent of their operations. It is rare that the guard are all present in one place at one time. While much of their force will be assembled at Fort Frost, much of their strength will be in the field at any one given time conducting various operations. Due to the often limited communications options, officers are expected to use their own initiative when conducting operations rather than waiting for orders from higher ups. Operations The most common of the Guard’s missions is to ‘protect’ a community by providing defence from any would-be attackers, in exchange for tribute in the form of caps and supplies. In the field, the Guard’s junior officers are given considerable leeway to conduct their operations as they see fit, as long as they achieve their objectives. While protection operations are the Guard’s most common form of assignment, they are far from exclusive. The guard will also take contracts to hunt down and eliminate hostile groups, such as raiders or dangerous creatures. Likewise, they will act as protection detail for trade caravans or the like. The Guard actively seek out pre-war technology and equipment, seeking whatever advantages they can get to bolster their own forces. As such, Guard detachments will often be sent out on salvaging or treasure hunting missions, acting under the orders of Malenkov or one of his subordinates. In these cases, Guard members are often paid rewards based on what they find, thus giving individuals an incentive to hand over their finds rather than hoarding it for themselves. Goals On the surface, the Fort Frost Guard are a large mercenary band, one that is driven primarily by the desire to make a profit from fighting. The combination of offering their services to those that are interested as well as their ‘protection’ operations ensure that there is a constant stream of income for the organisation. Its members are driven primarily by their own greed, reinforced by a training and indoctrination regime that underscores the point of working together to maximise profit. Underneath this are Malenkov’s two personal goals that he founded the Guard on. The first is the desire to end the threat of the Decimators. He sees them as being a menace, a force that needs to be destroyed. However, this is not out of any desire for law or peace in the region; rather, Malenkov wants them gone so he can establish himself and his army as the preeminent power in the region. With the Decimators removed, there would be no force to stop the Guard. Membership The Fort Frost Guard’s members are entirely human, a product both of Malenkov’s own biases as well as the events of their formation which left a lasting impression. To join the guard, one has to demonstrate loyalty and a willingness to do whatever is needed in order to achieve an objective. Ruthlessness and determination are seen as desirable qualities, and the most successful members of the guard have demonstrated both in abundance. Prospective members go through a gruelling training process designed to thin out the weaker and less capable members. The Guard’s trainers encourage competitive behaviour among recruits in order to see who are the most suited to their mindset. While many drop out, it is not uncommon for there to be casualties during this stage. Not all members of the guard are soldiers, however. The guard has technical personnel to support their equipment, as well as field medics to keep their soldiers in fighting shape. In addition, many members of the guard have families. However, even non-combatants are expected to be capable of fighting if needs be, and everyone is armed, even if only with a knife. Within the ranks of the Guard’s forces, there are three broad categories of soldiers. Recruits The bottom rung of the Guards, Recruits are little more than raiders with better organisation and leadership. Recruits are often made up of those who only just got through their training, or those with discipline problems. In many cases, recruit forces are seen as expendable, used for those operations that are either low risk ones that anyone could do, or those where high casualties are expected where they are thrown in as cannon fodder. It is rare for a soldier to rise from the recruits, as most are simply killed one way or another. Most recruits are poorly armed and equipped. Makeshift weapons such as pipe rifles are not uncommon, and standardisation is often lacking as troops arm themselves with whatever weapons they can find. Likewise, many of them are either unarmoured or equipped with only makeshift scraps of armour. Regulars The bulk of the Guards’ forces are Regulars, the standard line troopers of their forces. Organised, disciplined, well-trained and capable, they do the bulk of the work within the Guards’ operations. Regular troops are the most commonly seen on protection detail as well as in offensive operations against various targets. Its members are expected to be disciplined, loyal, driven and, when needed, ruthless, willing to do whatever is needed to achieve an objective. Regulars have a more formal structure, and operate in fixed squads. Most Regulars are armed with military-grade automatic weapons, and wear body armour. Their squads are usually built round specific purposes and are equipped accordingly. Elites The Elites represent the pinnacle of the Guards’ membership. Only the best and most capable are selected for their ranks, and they are usually drawn from those with extensive combat records. Elites are organised into small, dedicated teams, and are rarely deployed en-masse. Rather, they are more often used for elimination of key objectives or other such high-risk operations. Elite units are also often deployed to hunt down advanced technologies. Due to their specialised nature, Elite forces are armed with whatever weapons they feel are best suited to their skills. This includes drawing from Fort Frost’s small caches of advanced, pre-war weapons. It is not unheard of for an Elite member to have a weapon or piece of tech that is not otherwise found within their ranks. Technology and equipment Overall, the Fort Frost guard has a very middling level of technology. The bulk of their soldiers are armed with conventional automatic weapons, such as .45 Submachine guns, 5.56mm Combat Rifles, .50 Sniper Rifles and so on. Some have access to heavy weapons such as Missile Launchers or CZ53 Miniguns, but these are rare. A few Wattz 2000 laser rifles are also scattered among their ranks. A typical line soldier will be equipped with Combat Armour or Security Armour for protection. This is supplemented by a smattering of high-tech items, mostly looted from various sources. The Guard has access to a few Mister Gutsy, Protectron and Assaultron robots which are used to supplement their forces in the field. Likewise, their elite forces are known to field some high-tech wepaons such as REPCONN plasma rifles, M72 Gauss Rifles or the like, but these are often on an individual basis. The Fort Frost Guard do not have access to Power Armour. Colonel Malenkov would very much like to acquire some, and has a standing bounty on a functional suit. Category:Groups